Verdan slept and dreamt. It was every bit as gut-wrenching as he’d expected, and he spent the rest of the day recovering, both from his recent overexertion and the memories that were loose within him.

He’d tried to leave after waking from potion-induced sleep, but Natalia had talked him into resting the whole day. She rightly pointed out that he had pushed things far enough that if he didn’t rest now, he would only do more damage.

Reluctantly bowing to her demands, Verdan settled on a compromise.

He would stay and rest, but he would pass instructions to the others first, and they would fetch him if anything critical happened or he was needed.

It was only when Natalia donned her veil and gloves to fetch Kai, Ruan and Gwen from where they were waiting elsewhere in the building that he realised how deeply they’d conspired against him.

Each of the trio gave him a report on what was happening and wished him well before leaving.

Natalia went to work downstairs in her lab, analysing the strange liquid that had drawn the Vespa and leaving Verdan alone with his thoughts.

Verdan’s first thought was to work on his gathering spiral, to draw more power into himself for what was coming. He would have done just that if it had been any other circumstance, but he couldn’t let Natalia down like that. Instead, he sat in his temporary room, reading a book on various useful herbs and flowers.

Verdan had promised to rest, and deep down, he knew their concerns were valid.

After some time, he rose and paced, the book failing to hold his interest once it was past the descriptions and factual information. Theories on how and why such plants became the way they were weren’t particularly interesting to him.

“Verdan, it’s good to see you up and about,” Adrienne called out as she bustled into Natalia’s home with a wicker basket full of food. “You look better today, dearie, less drawn than usual.”

“Thank you,” Verdan said, his lips twitching in a smile as he let her coerce him into the dining room and put a piled plate of food before him.

“Now, how are you feeling?” Adrienne asked, her hands on her hips as she gave him an admonishing glare.

“Better than I have been,” Verdan admitted reluctantly, rolling his eyes as she rewarded the statement by passing him a cloth pouch with a smile.

“Good, now, Tobias sent this over for you. He said it would help relax you.”

Curious, Verdan opened the pouch to the strong aroma of peppermint. It looked to be the blend that Tobias favoured, a thoughtful gift.

“Good of him, considering everything,” Verdan said, thinking of the tense situation around the ownership of the warehouse that the strange potions had come in through.

“Enough of that,” Adrienne admonished him as she set about boiling some water for him. “I can almost hear you stressing about things again. You need to relax.”

“Relax,” Verdan echoed with a mirthless laugh, “I’m not sure I know how to do that anymore.”

“Hmm,” Adrienne stopped and regarded him thoughtfully before nodding to herself. “Very well, I’ll allow that you work, but only on things unrelated to the city and the Weeping Death. Understood?”

“I understand,” Verdan said with a genuine laugh this time, holding his hands up in surrender as his housekeeper glared at him with fake outrage.

“I’ll be back later. Look after yourself, alright?” Adrienne said, a touch of worry entering her voice.

“I will, I promise,” Verdan said, touched that she cared so much for his wellbeing.

Adrienne gave his shoulder a squeeze on the way out, leaving Verdan to steep the tea leaves himself before he could make the drink.

“Work, but nothing to do with the current situation,” Verdan said, wondering what that would cover. His thoughts had been dominated by the Weeping Death and the upcoming fight for the city ever since Shen Garveth had given the City Council his demands.

Verdan frowned as he gave the idea his full attention. He’d had so many things he wanted to work on when he first came to Hobson’s Point. Perhaps he could work on one of those?

An idle memory surfaced as Verdan let his mind wander, reminding him of when he’d tested the effect that Words of Power had on Sorcerers.

He’d identified that Kai had an affinity with air from that revelation, though the result seemed to be a wind affinity now that Kai had developed it.

What mattered there was that there was a crossover between the Words of Power and Essence, which potentially meant that there were ways the two could interact.

Perhaps even Aether and Essence?

Verdan found himself pacing as he considered the problem, turning it over in his mind as he examined the facts that he had.

Essential Essence, as the Sorcerers called it, was Aether with an elemental or notional aspect. It was a similar state of affairs to magical creatures like Elemental Bears or Ash Wolves, but they seemed to have a greater capacity to grow over time.

One particular researcher from the Imperium had maintained that the aspected nature of magical creatures was also contained in the process of a Wizard casting a spell.

The difference was that while a Wizard’s Aether was partially aspected by the Words of Power they used, the magic of a creature was permanently that way.

Verdan stopped, making a connection somewhere in that mess of thoughts.

He’d almost had it for a moment.

Natalia had given him access to what she had in her home, which, most importantly, included paper and ink.

Taking a healthy amount of both, Verdan found a table and began to note down everything he knew. He could feel that he was on the verge of an idea, and writing everything down would help him solidify it.

A few ideas came and went as Verdan worked. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was pushing toward, but his intuition told him that there was a link between Essence and Aether that he wasn’t seeing.

When he saw it, he was working through a half-page of notes on Words of Power, reading over his own

“Partially,” Verdan muttered to himself, a smile spreading across his face as he tapped a finger on the word.

The Words of Power he used partially provided the end form of his spells. That was what the key difference was.

Thanr, the word for fire, had an intent and a meaning all of its own. When Verdan used it as part of one of his spells, he drew on that meaning and mixed it with his own, providing an end result without relying entirely on his personal visualisation.

Verdan’s theory was that Sorcerers did the opposite. They had a set aspect that coloured all their magic, and then they shaped it as best they could afterwards, not before.

Verdan needed to refine the theory, but that was likely why they had specific roles like Caster or Enhancer, as it depended on the aspect of what they held.

Verdan leaned back from the pages of notes he’d made with a satisfied smile.

“Work it out in the end?” Natalia asked softly from the doorway, looking on with a bemused expression as she sipped on a mug of tea.

“What do you mean?” Verdan asked, looking at his scrawled notes and knowing there was no way she could have worked out what he was trying to do.

“You were muttering to yourself a lot, something about notional links and intent. I’m glad you got to the bottom of whatever it is, though.”

“So am I,” Verdan said, looking down at the rudimentary notes for a design that would have quite an impact if he made it. “I’m not sure I should follow through with it, though.”

“Why not?” Natalia asked, joining him at the table with a slight sigh of relief as she sat down.

“Are you okay?” Verdan asked, giving her a concerned look. He knew she’d been working hard recently as well.

“I’m fine, nothing I’m not used to,” she said, the corner of her lips twisting into a slight smile. “You were saying?”

“Right, well, I’ve finally got a working theory on the difference between what I do and what Sorcerers do. It makes no real difference to anything apart from one small detail, which makes all the difference. If I’m right, I could make them a Sorcerer equivalent of an Arcane Lexicon.”

“I’m not sure what that is, sorry,” Natalia said with a shake of her head.

“No reason you should,” Verdan waved aside her apology, knowing that the term was ancient, even in the days of the Imperium. “An Arcane Lexicon is an enchanted book you can read to help understand new Words of Power.”

“I’ve heard you use those, but how does that apply to Sorcerers?”

“Well, the device I’d make would theoretically be able to show Sorcerers what aspects they may be able to use, though that would be dependant on the Words of Power I use,” Verdan explained, pausing in thought as a second use occurred to him. “In fact, if I use a very broad term, I think it could be used to detect Sorcerer potential up front.”

“That would change everything,” Natalia said breathlessly, her eyes wide. “If anyone could be tested for ability, I can’t even imagine the impact it would have.”

“Exactly, and that’s the problem,” Verdan said, looking down at the paper before pushing it away with a soft sigh. “I can’t justify releasing such a thing into the world when it could cause more pain and suffering.”

“You’re looking at this all wrong, but I understand now. You’ve not lived in all this as we have,” Natalia said, coming over to sit next to him at the table. “The sects have their strength because they provide the only way to advance for Sorcerers, and the only way for aspirants to become Sorcerers, to begin with. If your device can do what you say, then it changes that.”

“Bringing chaos, disorder and strife.”

“No,” Natalia said sharply, her tone cutting through Verdan’s thoughts to grab his attention. “It will bring more Sorcerers, which will take power away from the sects and strengthen humanity. More independent Sorcerers will allow for us to spread, maybe even let us fight off the next Rising without losing any more Enclaves.”

“Yet, I think my prediction will come before yours,” Verdan said grimly, thinking about how a sect like the Weeping Death might react.

“Do not let short-term strife blind you to what this could achieve in the long run,” Natalia said sternly. “We don’t have the magical power you described in your Imperium. We live or die by the blades of the Sorcerers and sects that defend us.”

“But, the lives of so many people,” Verdan said, giving Natalia a pleading look. “I would be responsible for so much death.”

“No, you would be responsible for giving us a chance to do more than simply survive. The rest is on the conscience of those who do the act.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Verdan said, albeit somewhat reluctantly. “I still feel responsible, though.”

“Then that would be your burden to bear for giving everyone a chance to better themselves. Imagine how many potential Sorcerers live in the city but are unaware of their own potential. Imagine what that could do for us!”

Verdan stopped and considered the problem properly, picking apart the things he didn’t like about it and what he could do to minimise it.

Realistically, he wasn’t going to be introducing this to the whole world all at once, and the Weeping Death were already trying to kill him, so he didn’t need to worry about antagonising them.

He could keep it restricted at first, limiting its usage and spread throughout the city. After all, it would be the same as what he could do himself, simply without hogging his time and expending his Aether.

“Okay,” Verdan said, reminding himself that this wasn’t something that would contribute toward advancing their magic. He was simply making it more available. “Pass me some more paper. I’ll finish the design.”

“Thank you,” Natalia said in little more than a whisper, leaning forward to kiss him on one cheek before hurrying away to find some paper and leaving Verdan to stare after her as he reached up to touch the spot where she’d kissed him.